Revelation 21:5a from the Second Reading at Mass
Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)
©️2022 Gloria M. Chang
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.”
The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Revelation 21:1-5a
Behold, I Make All Things New
Present-day wars, destruction, and chaos do not have the final word. In Christ, all creation is called to deification and union with God. The new Jerusalem, the city-bride, does not arise from the earth or sea—the old order that spawns tyrants and false prophets (Revelation 13:1, 11)—but descends from God himself (Revelation 21:2). For the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, has united humanity and divinity in his person through the Holy Spirit’s power in the Virgin’s womb. This “mystical evolution” originates not from below but from above, “out of heaven from God.”
Echoing John’s Prologue, the seer of Revelation uses the image of the “tabernacle” (skéné) to depict God dwelling among his people: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Through baptism “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19), God’s children become temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Gospel is truly “good news.” Jesus, the firstborn of creation (Colossians 1:15), has triumphed over sin and death, drawing us to the Father in the Spirit.
The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Revelation 21:5a
Dear GMC, thank you for your beautiful reflection. It reveals God’s love to humanity and makes us fall in love anew with our Creator. Thanks be to God, GMC, for the ways you help me develop the depths of my faith and find peace and healing. I still stay close to Our Lady of China and ask her to pray for us. Amen.
“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
-Revelation 7:12
Our Lady of China, pray for us!
The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.”
Revelation 21:5a
Come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with love and enable us to renew the world.
Love will prevail over evil. May we become bridge builders as we reflect Divine Mercy to others.
As Pope Leo XIV reminded us in his homily when he quoted St. Augustine,
“Our hearts are restless, O God, until they rest in you.”
Amen! Thank you for sharing that beautiful quote. A couple of friends and I got up early to watch Pope Leo XIV’s Inaugural Mass this morning. What a blessing!